GAME NOTES: The top-seeded Wofford Terriers and fourth-seeded Western Carolina Catamounts will open up semifinal round action of the Southern Conference Tournament on Sunday evening at the U.S. Cellular Center.

The winner will take on either Furman or Mercer for the tournament title on Monday.

Western Carolina has just one SoCon Tournament title to its credit (1996) and would love to get a second one. The Catamounts are trying to reach the title game for the third time in the last four years. WCU finished the regular season at 14-16 overall, but was .500 in league play at 9-9. The Catamounts needed overtime to advance out of the quarterfinals on Saturday, topping East Tennessee State, 67-61.

Wofford took home all the significant SoCon awards this season, earning the regular-season conference title, in addition to having the SoCon Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. Mike Young's Terriers ended the regular season with five straight wins to go 16-2 in the league and added a sixth straight victory on Saturday, with a 70-52 rout of eight-seed UNC Greensboro. Wofford is seeking its second straight SoCon tourney title after claiming last year's championship over Western Carolina (56-53).

The two regular-season matchups between these two teams weren't close, as Wofford won by 19 points on the road on Jan. 17 (62-43) and by 20 points at home on Feb. 14 (75-55).

Western Carolina finally got over the proverbial hump on Saturday, as the Catamounts ended an ugly 17-game losing streak to East Tennessee State with a hard-fought, overtime victory. Senior star James Sinclair was exceptional in the win, netting 30 points, grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds and amassing six steals. Mike Brown added a double-double of his own, finishing with 16 points and 10 boards for Western Carolina, which held ETSU to a mere .323 shooting, while forcing 19 turnovers.

Sinclair was tabbed All-SoCon First-Team and for good reason, as he finished second in the league in scoring (19.1 ppg) and has now upped that to 19.5 ppg with his outburst against the Buccaneers. The Catamounts aren't reliant only on Sinclair's exploits, as three others boast of double-digit scoring averages in Brown (13.9 ppg), Rhett Harrelson (12.0 ppg) and Torrion Brummitt (11.1 ppg).

Wofford has its own star in SoCon Player of the Year Karl Cochran. The senior guard tops the team in scoring (14.9 ppg), rebounding (5.9 rpg), assists (2.8 apg) and steals (57). He is also the team-leader with 92 3-pointers to his credit. Cochran was tabbed first-team all-conference, but wasn't alone in garnering postseason honors, as senior forward Lee Skinner (9.7 ppg, 6-0 rpg) was a second-team selection and junior guard Spencer Collins (11.5 ppg) was a third-team honoree.

The Terriers used a 15-4 run at the end to turn the game with UNCG into a rout, and advance to the semifinal round. Collins netted a game-high 21 points to pace Wofford in the win. Kochran had a quiet outing, but did hit a couple of 3-pointers late to up his game total to 12 points. Skinner added 12 of his own for the Terriers, who shot .500 from the floor, while holding UNCG to a mere .351 effort.

The Terriers made light work of the Catamounts in both meetings this season. If Sinclair can carry over his performance from Saturday, this one could be a lot closer.